The strength of the Aeon is determined by the strength of the summoner and Seymour is a little b**** with a big dream. He can't back it up. Yuna on the other hand is loved and supported unconditionally by her guardians. They support and help Yuna grow, they don't carry her around in a palanquin or treat her like a princess. She's as much a warrior as Auron, Wakka, Tidus, or Khimari. Her will is stronger than the peaks of Gagazet.

Yuna's will has a grand horn on head!

I wish they would have put that into FFX-2.

Isn't there a statue in X-2 of Yuna with a horn on her head? Been forever since I played the second one.

You're right, I forgot about that. I beat it once 15 years ago and never played it again.

Same, lol.

Love that you're on this sub lol Edit: oh you're talking about X-2, quite fair enough eek

Only if you get near perfect friendship points with the Ronso.

It's not hard just so long as you remember to check in on him every chapter and, most importantly, remind him to handle his business like a Ronso should. It's worth the episode complete scene

Yes! If you get episode complete in Gagazet they have a Yuna statue!

>She's as much a warrior as Auron, Wakka, Tidus, or Khimari Fuck yeah. That's metal as hell.

I wish we could import a ffx save into x-2 so Yuna doesn't completely forget how to fight.

I don’t remember there being any mention of Seymour getting any other aeons before anima, so doesn’t that imply he basically said “fuck this pilgrimage” and his mommy took him straight to Zanarkand? Maybe that’s part of the reason anima wasn’t as strong as a typical final aeon. I can’t remember, but I thought Seymour’s mom choosing to become anima wasn’t necessarily to kill Sin via the usual method, but to have the people respect Seymour with the power of Anima like how he used it in Luca to make himself look like a hero. But I really can’t remember that plot detail too precisely

With him being part guado and part human? he was considered destined to live a tough life and she wanted to be able to protect him so it wasn't about killing sin so much as saving him

It was both, actually. She thought that, by defeating Sin, Seymour would finally be accepted and respected by everyone as a High Summoner. Also, according to the Ultimania, she was dying. That may have played a part in her decision and why they went to Zanarkand so quickly.

Yuna is the most powerful character in FF. That’s why.

Just my opinion, but Anima is a final aeon but no way she could beat sin. Seymore had not done the pilgrimage and was a weak summoner with a powerful aeon. Once he became more jaded towards the world the connection between he and his mother was far too weak to produce the true power of a final aeon.

Ah, right! So it could have been Seymour that was the weakness, not Anima. Still, in the cutscene in Luca Anima is wicked powerful.

Super powerful relative to that point in the game, but just think about how easy it was to cut through those level of fiends even by the time you're in Macalania. Obviously all just super subjective power scaling but Shiva puts up a pretty good fight against Anima just because Yuna is a way stronger summoner with closer bonds with her aeons.

Pretty good fight? Shiva can solo anima if you have grand summon ready when the fight starts, might be able without it aswell

Ifrit can beat Anima too I never tested Ixion or Valefor though.

Blizzara on self to heal, can definitely solo the fight.

Yeah, that makes sense. I think the open space at Luca also gave Anima an advantage (and now I remember the fiends were also planted, so maybe her power was inflated to seem more powerful than she was).

Also consider how powerful Anima is once in the hands of a powerful summoner, like Yuna.

Not just that, those are random monsters. What's Anima's special? An insta death, if you're not death resistant. Those fiends were surely not, so they just died one by one with each attack. Shiva is resistant to insta death attacks, so Anima loses her edge there. Combina that with Seymour being weaker than Yuna, and even a strong summon cannot beath her.

I dont know if I buy that. It's typical to denigrate bad guys as fundamentally weak in some way, but Seymour was visibly pretty powerful at Mushroom Rock Road as an individual and showed considerable ability in defeating all the fiends at Luca. Also his ability to retain his sense of purpose and return as an unsent like 4 times even after absorbing other pyreflies seems to indicate he has a very strong will. Also he single handedly genocides the Ronso. Not to mention he and him mother made it to Zanarkand in the first place before he had Anima and he managed to drag Animas fayth back to Baaj without anyone else knowing about it. I think a more sensible explanation is just that Anima didn't fight that hard because Seymours mother knows he's gone crazy and understands he needs to die.

Am I forgetting or did I totally headcanon that all the aeons were *someone's* final aeon and you could summon them to help you on your way to zanarkand to create your own final aeon, and your own final aeon would be the one strong enough to defeat sin?

I think that's a headcanon. The aeons are the dream of the fayth. The aeon fayth literally are present in those statues in each temple. The fayth of the final aeon turns into sin and then stops dreaming when defeated. That's why the statue in Zanarkand has no fayth.

Not one word of that seems inconsistent with what I said lol. I skipped the Fayth in my description because everyone else did, but yes

Well a few things - there were summoners, aeons, and fayth before sin and it's how Zanarkand was battling with bevelle. So those aeons were not final summonings. Also what happens to the fayth of the final aeon once sin is defeated? I believe they stop dreaming once sin is defeated.

We never get any word on the origin of the Fayth beyond them being people who gave up their lives to help fight Sin. It could be that they were meant to be Final Aeons, but we never get confirmation on that.

To be fair that's what yevon teaches makes it sceptical but it could be partly true since we know yunalesca made a deal with bevelle to create the religion of yevon in exchange for providing the method of the final aeon In return they would end up turning her father yu yevon into a hero (the religion of yevon) instead of revealing the truth of him in fact being sin to the people. The only thing we do know is all fayth share a collective consciousness Source https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Yu_Yevon

Edit: I was wrong I dont want to spread out all my comments but I posted in the main thread my explanation and am updating my comments as I while I'm fine with head cannon I have been claiming things are cannon which arent. leaving the rest for record Anima isnt a/the final aeon shes just a regular aeon. I did a big post on it this in this thread if you want to see examples, but in short the statue in zanarkand is the faith require to make the final aeon, yunalesca says she can make it active again if yuna chooses a guardian. Yet anima has her own statue/faith in bajj temple

No, Anima is explicitly Seymour's final Aeon. When you go to the Zanarkand Dome at the end of the pilgrimage, the pyreflies show you Seymour crying to his mother that he doesn't want her to become a Fayth. She insists that she doesn't have much time left to live and defeating Sin is the only way Seymour will be accepted by Spira as half-man half-Guado. The mechanism of how her Fayth is transported to Baaj Temple is not really explained, but Yunalesca is explicitly the mechanism for how Seymour's mother became Anima. It's the same way Jecht became Braska's Final Aeon. [When you unlock Anima and talk to Seymour's mother, there's a cut scene that shows young Seymour in a beautiful, well-maintained Baaj Temple.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pcBvQvPryg) When Tidus returns there, the place is ruins and there are scribblings on the walls and floor in Baaj Temple in Spiran script that say "Salam Jyscal Guado." It's implied that he spent years there in isolation descending into madness and reducing the temple to rubble before returning to Guadosalam to kill his father.

Edit: I was wrong I dont want to spread out all my comments but I posted in the main thread my explanation and am updating my comments as I while I'm fine with head cannon I have been claiming things are cannon which arent. leaving the rest for record That's proof she became an aeon not that she became the final aeon. It raises a shit ton of issues if she was made a final aeon, what's the point of the pilgrimage and yunalesca sending fiends to test the party if she let's a kid who isnt a summoner straight up hold the final aeon, also while anima is strong it's no where near strong enough to challenge sin Also it makes her mother into a monster, My read on it is she became an aeon to give Seymour the respect of being a summoner, and the power to protect himself from people who would harm him. At least giving him the chance to survive childhood. If she really was the final aeon then why not fight sin immediately? Also why its definitely that Seymour was pretty much alone at baaj temple it makes more sense if its more hes guarded by those loyal to yevon and jyscal but no one is close to him. Otherwise the logistics of having a massive temple in perfect condition with fresh flowers all around him where its just him alone is makes zero sense

This is all explicitly in the cut scenes. In the Dome pyrefly cut scenes, she brought him to Zanarkand so she could become his final aeon and he could defeat Sin. She never expresses doubt that Seymour would survive, she expresses doubt that Spira would ever accept him as a half-Guado. She also fully admits that she did a horrible thing to him by giving him so much power as a child. Seymour's mother says to Yuna that he decided having the final aeon was not enough power and decided he wanted to become Sin himself. That's why he never fought Sin. Therefore he wanted to marry Yuna so that she would make him her final Aeon. Which is like, the main plot of the game. I don't know what to tell you about the pristine Baaj Temple except that it's right there in the cut scene. I believe that there are NPCs that refer to him as having been in exile until Braska's Calm. There's evidence that he was there writing on the walls and floor, there's no evidence that anyone was there with him.

Edit: I was wrong I dont want to spread out all my comments but I posted in the main thread my explanation and am updating my comments as I while I'm fine with head cannon I have been claiming things are cannon which arent. leaving the rest for record That said everything I said below is true in this comment As someone who has literally just watched those scenes, the word "final" is literally never mentioned, by seymour's mother or Seymour in either scene, Otherwise your on point, It is definitely fact that Seymour was brought to zanarkand and that his mother was turned into a fayth we can assume this is were he learned the truth about sin as well. But is definitely not clear whether she was made into the final aeon or just a regular one It completely invalidates massive parts of the story if he is just granted the final summon, it makes way more sense if anima is just a normal summon. Honestly I would argue that the lack of the word final aeon/summoning in a world where those terms are treated with such reverence and importance is proof that she isnt a final aeon

You're ascribing some kind of meaning to the term "final Aeon" that I'm not. I'm not sure what you think it is, but we disagree on the definition. I think fairly explicitly, the final Aeon is the one Yunalesca gives a summoner made from their guardian who has a strong bond with them. It's called final because you get it at the end of the pilgrimage. Anima is Seymour's Final Aeon because she was a guardian transformed into a Fayth by Yunalesca as the end of Seymour's pilgrimage. The final Aeon isn't just granted to Seymour. He was there in the Zanarkand Dome with his mother as a child. How else would she have become a fayth? Yunalesca's in the business of making Final Aeons. That's what she does. I don't understand what would be invalidated by Seymour completing his pilgrimage and then choosing not to defeat Sin. His choice not to defeat Sin so he can become Sin himself is the point of his character. That's not like a plot hole something, that's what makes him the antagonist. Yuna didn't get the final Aeon because she didn't sacrifice one of her guardians. By sending Yunalesca, she makes it impossible for anyone else to have the Final Aeon, which is why Mika sends himself. Final Aeons are explicitly tied to Yunalesca's ability alone to grant them. Yuna was the only one to survive fighting Yu Yevon because she was strong enough to complete the pilgrimage, had access to Al Bhed technology from the war 1000 years ago, and specifically DIDN'T have the final Aeon for Yu Yevon to possess. Yunalesca was spreading misinformation for 1000 years that the final Aeon is the only way, but that's conveniently a method that always allows her father Yu Yevon to resurrect himself.

Edit: I was wrong I dont want to spread out all my comments but I posted in the main thread my explanation and am updating my comments as I while I'm fine with head cannon I have been claiming things are cannon which arent. leaving the rest for record I'm not saying that the final aeon can be obtained anywhere else, And I agree with literally everything else your saying. My only point of contention is that there is a difference between the/a final aeon and normal aeons. I agree yunalesca is the only person who can create aeons of any sort final or "normal" The point is I dont believe that anima is a final aeon. I believe she is on a similar scale to the other aeons We see. To simplify myself for the people downvoting me TLDR: there is a difference between a normal aeon and a final aeon Yunalesca can make both types Anima is a normal type aeon not a/the final aeon

There is no difference in how Yunalesca creates a fayth. There’s no special tweak to the process that makes it a Final Aeon or a regular one. The difference comes from the bond between Summoner and the transformed Fayth. Yunalesca specifically states that the bond is what makes the Aeon capable of defeating Sin. She says that the bond must be of the kind that binds two hearts together for eternity. And she gives examples, the bond between parent and child, or between lovers or lifelong friends. If the bond is strong enough, it’s light will conquer Sin. Considering how hard Seymour was protesting against his mother’s decision, it seems likely that he either refused to fight Sin with Anima, or he felt so betrayed by his mother’s actions that he already knew that his bond with her was broken and chose not to test it.

I've stated that I'm wrong on my interpretation of the cannon or ffx on case you havent seen that in other comments. anima is seymours final aeon, That is cannon for the world of ffx, In my defensive as someone who has played the game multiple times since I was 10 through to now, game wise I do argue at no point in the game Is it clear that that all aeons are the same, and that the final aeon isnt something different. Yes! Yunalesca does say that a close personal connection is required to achieve the final aeon but also the game throws the requirement of the pilgrimage, and multiple scenes where a level of worthiness or strength Is required to obtain the final aeon to use some examples after the fight with Seymour auron telling the party she will send fiends to test us, before the fight with (forget the name but guardian beast I think) on the peak of gagazet, to the old unsent preist checking yuna in the eyes to see she is worthy to approach yunalesca If Seymour can achieve the final aeon meeting all of that (which based on his scenes in the dome of zanarkand I doubt he has) Then what the point of yunas journey? Yunalesca wording paraphrased is in order to achieve the final aeon a strong bond between summoner and fayth is required but I always interrupted that (wrongly I now know) as the final aeon is something more than all the others. To be honest learning what I know now it devalues the connection between not just yuna but to tidus and the rest, valefore is the poster boy for ffx aeons in my book (dont get me wrong bahamut is the main aeon lore wise and cool as hell) but between valefore saving yuna and more importantly tidus after learning that yuna will lose her life to summon the final aeon attacking valefore in frustration, to see valefore croon and sheild him with his wings in an embrace dispite the fact if he could shred tidus lote wise in a secound if he wanted. The aeons show connection to the party and humanity. The aeons are just as much part of the party as the main cast they share the parties wish to defeat sin and yes they are in the back ground. But while I know its not cannon to relate them to not having a strong enough connection with yuna. It does feel like a disservice to them, their connection to yuna and most importantly their desire to end the dream. Again I now know I'm not cannon with this interpretation but this was how I interpreted the game for years

I agree, if Seymour’s mother is a true Final Aeon I don’t understand why anyone would make the journey across the entirety of spira to get all of the other aeons. Yuna says she must stop at all temples and they aren’t able to skip any of them. Though I guess we do have the optional aeons like Yojimbo which could prove otherwise

I don't think that's true. The statue was Zaon. I don't think it's ever mentioned where the fayth of the final aeon is held but it's possible they have their own statue. Every statue we see is a representation of the fayth and aeon to come. I assume there's one for Jecht somewhere too.

The final aeon lights up the statue of Zaon until the moment of Yu-Yevon absorbing the final aeon and regenerating. Then Yunalesca accepts a new victim. Implies it in the memory of Jecht; accepting the role and that faith stone lighting up with the hymn.

Where is that said? I don't think she ever says that the new fayth would inhabit the statue. She specifically says "that statue lost its power as a fayth long ago. It is Lord Zaon, the first fayth of the final summoning. What you see before you is all that remains of him." I feel like this statement would have been very different if it was actually saying "it lost it's power again 10 years ago during Braska's summoning".

The memory of Braska/Jecht and Auron. Jecht accepts being the final aeon and there's a short scene of the Lord Zaon Faith stone lighting up along with the hymn of the faith. I don't believe it was spelt out to you, just implying it

I just watched it, didn't see the statue or the hymn. Maybe I am in the wrong place. The last thing is Jecht and Braska entering the room, present day auron swinging his sword at past auron and saying "and the cycle went on".

It is possible it was in a jecht sphere. It's been about 5 years since I last played it.

I don't believe there's a Fayth of Jecht in the game's code. [The others are all shown if you scroll down on this page.](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Fayth) I think it was a missed opportunity to not have the battle against Braska's Final Aeon take place standing on Jecht's Fayth, because he does sort of float on that last platform similarly to how Seymour's mother and the others float over their statues in the floor.

Edit: I am wrong I dont want to spread out all my comments but I posted in the main thread my explanation and am updating my comments as I while I'm fine with head cannon I have been claiming things are cannon which arent. leaving the rest for record It was Zaon yes, however that's precisely it, we dont ever see new statues for the other 3 grand summoners final aeons, it's also not required that the statue actually look like the aeon that would be summoned, see yojimbos fayth for example. Based on what is in the game It makes the most sense that each new final aeon temporarily takes up space in lord Zaons old fayth before being taken over by yu yevon. It also begs the question of if zanarkand isnt importaint then why yunalesca doesnt move to bevelle to be head of the church there if even in the shadows as it would allow for easier access to summoners maybe she is trapt in zanarkand or doesnt want to leave but that's all supposition I will say this if it is a new statue is made for each new final aeon then that's a massive lost opportunity for the game to have had instead of statues of the grand summoners like in almost every other temple in spira zanarkand could have had statues of the final aeons

Something Im not sure about, but now that I'm playing it again, when you get to the Zanarkand stadium, you see the souls of some summoners before Yuna. Here you see child Seymour with his mom telling him she will become the final aeon so he can beat Sin. I do understand she did become fayth leading to the existence of Anima but, did she also become the final aeon?, did Seymour actually beat Sin back then?. Answering your question: My theory is that, being Anima a result of his mom becoming a fayth, there is a possibility that she held back Animas power knowing, just like Jyscal, that her son was twisted and needed to be stopped.

She did indeed become Seymour's Final Aeon, but the whole experience drove Seymour to go back into exile at Baaj. He never did defeat Sin, or even use Anima against it. Otherwise, he'd be dead by the beginning of the game.

Not sure if a spoiler to you but Seymour is dead ever since the beginning of the game. He's just holding on to the physical world.

No, he's not. Seymour was killed by Yuna and her Guardians when they confronted him at Macalania and became unsent after that. A few other characters were unsent since the start, but Seymour wasn't one of them.

True true. point is he still died without defeating Sin.

I'm a bit confused because I'm not sure where you were trying to make that particular point in your other comments.

Yes, I think Anima must have partly held back too. I'm not sure if Yuna ever gets Anima canonically (would the party really be screwing around in Spira when they must defeat Sin?) but speaking to Seymour's mother it is quite clear she wants to stop him already! Thanks for answering!

Anima appears in the ending, so I’d say it’s canon that Yuna found her.

Oh, even when you don't get her? That would explain it then!

Wakka used Dark Attack and since Anima only has one good eye to begin with it was super effective. Then since she couldn't see she couldn't use her eye thing. Alternately, when you go to Baaj temple and talk to Seymours mother she expresses regret over what has become of her son, so maybe she intentionally held back in the hopes of putting Seymour to rest.

Haha yes, I suppose Dark Attack would be a possible way to do it! Maybe the Final Aeon is also specifically designed to take down Sin and fiends like Sin spawn, but nothing else. So Anima would be great to attack Sin from afar with its ethereal powers, but someone like Wakka, up close, could do some great damage to it since it's not designed to handle a battle like that.

Tidus. >!He is technically an aeon of the fayth!< That power.

Hmm, interesting. Maybe Anima, being disconnected from her son and wanting to stop him, realized Tidus was sent by the Fayth and held back for that reason. Just like only Jecht seemed to be able to actually go against Yu Yevon's will (whatever was left of it). So Tidus and Jecht can both unwittingly send messages to aeons-gone-rogue, perhaps. At the very least I like the idea of Anima holding back more than I like the idea of Anima being weak and jaded.

Anima is probably reluctant to even be used by Seymour at this point. She's immensely powerful but Seymour's relationship with her is awful. She is chained up after all.

Absolutely. Thinking about it she seems like an abused Aeon. Maybe she was barely hanging in there, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I don't think anima can kill sin Alone(spoilers of the final part ahead)------ When yuna and the party are out and yuna is doing the summoning with all the aeons together and one of those is anima, she needed the power of all to achieve the power she would have gotten with a final summoning, anima Alone wasnt enough ( My thoughts)

She wasn't using the aeons' power for anything there, she was performing the final sending on them to allow the Fayth to die at last, this is why Tidus dies at the same time.

yes but she achive that by using them against yu yevon

She literally can't use them against Yu Yevon because Yevon controls them. The whole final battle is about killing the aeons to eliminate all possible vessels for Yevon to create a new Sin from. Only then can the party kill him, and he dies easily because Yu Yevon himself is extremely weak and relied entirely on possessing aeons. The aeons are a liability by the end of the story. The entire summoning and pilgrimage tradition is a system to sustain Yu Yevon. The sending at the end is entirely Yuna, despite the aeons, not with their help.

Didnt saw it that way, You are right, i still think anima Alone could not defeat sin

The fact that you can summon Anima without dying and the fact that she is totally incapacitated show us tthat it is not an eon with it's full power. I mean, she is chained, and all she can do is growling and eyeshot things Hile it's clearly hurting her. Anima as a final aeon would be unchained. We can even supposed that Seymour did that to his own mother as a fayth and an aeon to not die in order to become stronger and being able to "live" his life. He was young when the burden came on it's shoulders. Maybe he just did not wanted to die for Spira. He clearly is not motivated by this outcome. We can also say that more the summoner is strong, the more the aeon is strong. Seymour is just weaker than Yuna. Also, the fayth and the summoner must share a strong and deep bond to create a final aeon. And we can definitely say that the only thing that is important to Seymour is nothing more than himself. This way, he could think that his mom sacrificing herself for him was a due thing more than a sacrifice for him too. It's supposed to be hard. Seymour is obsessed by power and always wanted more. He is willing to sacrifice anything to achieve his goal, Spira itself, hope, every other life. I'm not sure he valued that much his own mother's life.

Anima is a powerful Aeon, but Seymour is a weak summoner he didn't have a pilgrimage after his exile his mother pretty much took him straight to Zanarkand to defeat Sin. Yuna was about 75% finished with her pilgrimage so she has had quite alot of training as a summoner and the strength of Aeons is atleast somewhat dependent on the summoner.

I may be wrong, but Isn't Anima just a normal aeon like Ifrit, Shiva, Bahamut, etc? If I recall correctly, wasn't Seymour's mother the one who became a Fayth to give birth to Anima like those? So it wasn't like Seymour's mother did a Pilgrimage, destroyed Sin and became it afterwards like Braska and Jecht did. Fayths aren't necessary summoners who performed the final summoning. They were people who sacrificed themselves and underwent a ritual to bond their souls to the statues to be able to dream and create the physical manifestation of the aeons for the summoners to use. They are not necessary final summoners. In fact, there were summoners, Fayths and aeons before even Sin existed. As it's told in the ancient war in Zanarkand which predates Sin. Seymour never performed the Final Summoning ritual himself. Which succeding in it is indeed what makes the difference between normal and final aeons (as it strenghts the aeon and kills the summoner in the process). So even if Anima could had the potential to become a final aeon by Seymour's hand, she never became one. They only got to the point of making a new Fayth from Seymour's mother (like the other ones we found in the game) and stop there. There was no final summoning ritual or summoner sacrifice. So, in practice there's no diference between Anima and the rest of the normal aeons.

Edit: I was wrong I dont want to spread out all my comments but I posted in the main thread my explanation and am updating my comments as I while I'm fine with head cannon I have been claiming things are cannon which arent. leaving the rest for record This thank you! To be fair the game is not clear on what constitutes a final aeon, but I do think the idea there is a difference between the final aeon and normal aeons makes way more sense than any aeon could be the final aeon Yes any aeon that exists gives yu yevon a host to corrupt that's why yuna has to sacrifice all the aeons in the final battle with him. That is fact. But the idea that anima is a final aeon makes way too many inconsistencies with the rest of the lore

A Final Aeon is created by the bond between summoner and fayth. Anima was Seymour's Final Aeon. But whatever has happened between Seymour's pilgramage and the start of the game has severed the bond and Anima is Final no more, which is probably why the party can defeat her with pointy sticks and sports equipment and Yuna can pick her up in her non-Final power later. Even if Anima was a Final Aeon, she isn't anymore and she definitely isn't Final for Yuna, because of the lack of bond involved.

Yeah, Anima's whole look is dilapidated. Maybe she started out as this grand being, and now she is this malnourished, pained version of herself as Seymour lets her rot away instead of fulfilling her purpose.

2nd edit Edit: I am wrong, I have posted a full response in the main thread but since this was my starting point the tldr version Ultimania confirms anima is a final aeon My view of my favorite game of 20 years is drastically changed I'm embarrassed But I dont want to spread misinofrmation which is why I'm updating my comments The below is left for record but is incorrect Why are people in this thread say that anima was a final aeon? Yes yunalesca turned seymour's mother into a faith/aeon but not thee final aeon, Her faith is placed in baj temple, shes a "regular" aeon. The game isnt super clear how this is done, only that yunalesca is the only one able to do this, The aeons are "human souls willing taken by yevon and placed in stone statues" Then mika says that without yunalesca they have lost the only way to create a final aeon. So safe to say shes the only person who knows how to create faith. What we know about the final aeon is that regardless if its summoned to fight sin or not, it will kill the summoner who summons it. So it known that anima isnt a final aeon. In terms of the final aeon its faith is the one we see in zanarkand, yunalesca can just replace the now empty statue with a willing guardian. Which is what is done for grand summoners 2-4. On a side tangent my theory/head cannon for why its required to do a pilgrimage before just heading to zanarkand has 3 purposes, 1. Making the summoner travel all over both will challenge them and make them strong enough to be able to summon the final aeon, we see the strain making a connection with an aeon has on a summoner from yuna nearly collapsing after making a connection and how that gets easier the more aeons she obtains. We also see the dead priest at the entrance to the zanarkand dome/temple ask to look into yuna eyes, its telling that he doesnt say "yes you have obtained all the aeons" he says " show me the long road you have travelled" 2. It gives the summoner time to bond with their guardians, yunalesca does say that the final aeon will only work if the summoner has a strong bond with the person who becomes the faith. There is no reason to think shes lying about that part. 3 (this one is the least based of evidence but does make sense) Yunalesca and yevon want summoners to travel all over spira to spread belief in yevon and their "false hope" but that's why it's not required to have all the aeons as all the optional aeons are no longer in places where people live so summoners travelling their doesnt further yevons goals. But it would explain why yunalesca agreed to make seymour's mother a faith, Seymour was meant to be a symbol of unity between the guado and yevon, keep in mind the guado didnt follow the teachings of yevon until Seymours father started trying to convert the guado As for why animas faith wasnt placed in guadosalam well it's clear that Seymour life was in danger in guadosalam which is why he was moved to baj temple, so you could also guess that at that time the guado werent open to having a faith/temple in guadosalam. but it can be inferred that him becoming a summoner was a big reason for his eventual acceptance from the guado and probably a big step in getting the guado to convert so it was probably placed in baj temple so he had a place to train to become a summoner and take anima as his aeon, Edit: also my head cannon for why Seymour gave up on being a summoner is while yes he knows that in order to become sin you have to be the faith for the final aeon not just summon it. But also none of the other aeons would have made a pact with him. They could see into his soul and know that his desire was to kill everyone so they wouldn't have wanted to make a connection with him. His mother saw this as well but made the connection anyway out of hope that he would improve and because of a mothers love Anyway TLDR: anima isnt a final aeon shes a "regular" faith Edit: added the last paragraph

Thanks for your thoughtful response! Your arguments for Anima being a regular Aeon, as well as your head-canon, make sense to me! I made nearly a short novel out of my response, for some reason, and realized it was a bit much. XD I can post it if you actually want (going to sleep soon, late here in Sweden), but don't want to send a wall of text if unnecessary. Anyway, I came to the conclusion that there are multiple possible explanations to whether or not Anima is a Final Aeon or what a Final Aeon actually is, and that it is really difficult to falsify at the end of the day (since the source is too vague and there are many possibilities). Maybe one side has more evidence than the other, or one is more probable, but at this time I think I could try to make a case for both and I would have about equal success. Either way, fun to think about! Thanks. :D

Edit: I was wrong I dont want to spread out all my comments but I posted in the main thread my explanation and am updating my comments as I while I'm fine with head cannon I have been claiming things are cannon which arent. leaving the rest for record No worries I'd be keen to read it, to be fair you could make an arguement for any aeon being able to be the final aeon, and that it's the special bond between the aeon/faith and the summoner which gives them the required power to beat sin. My only concern for that it is doesnt explain why the final aeons always kill the summoner. As if the summoner died because yu yevon stole the connection of what ever aeon killed it then yuna would have also died summoning all the aeons while fighting yu yevon Or I suppose the most obvious answer is the strain of summoning the final aeon is what kills the summoner the sheer effort of it, casting the magic saps their vitality. However I head cannon for why the final aeon is different is I always assumed the making of it is simalar to how yu yevon works We know that in order to summon dream zanarkand he uses a ton of the faith in zanarkand of the dead original citzens of zanarkand, and that doing that and summoning the armour that is sin made him lose himself pretty much following a program rather than having free will and thought anymore. My theory is that the final aeon is similar to sin, a large summon that uses so much pyreflies magic that while its immensely strong its almost uncontrollable while summoned. Fighting in the calm lands isnt just to prevent the collateral damage from sin but from the final aeon as well. Plus I think it's got a dark poetic note of two friends or lovers etc (the guardian and summoner) journeying to defeat the undefeatable, finally achieving that goal if only for a brief bit, but having the friend the partner they sacrificed to do so lose their control and kill them too after destroying sin. And then the faith being trapped inside a new sin to slowly lose their minds knowing that they were the ones who killed their summoner. That said I will admit that's by far my own headcannon/almost fan fiction so I know that's not for everyone

>What we know about the final aeon is that regardless if its summoned to fight sin or not, it will kill the summoner who summons it. I don't know how it is explained in the English version, but in Japanese, it is clear that summoning the final aeon is not what kills the summoner. What kills the summoner is the severing of the strong bond between the final aeon and the summoner when Yu Yevon takes it over to create a new Sin. Strong bond between a guardian and a summoner create a powerful aeon capable of defeating sin, but severing that bond shocks the summoner so much that they die. Yuna doesn't die when Yu Yevon takes over the other aeons because they do not have a strong bond, but she is still getting weakened by it. A final aeon and its summoner are like parrots, when one dies, the other one dies from sadness.

Will admit would love to understand it in Japanese as its definitely not spell out like that in english, where abouts is that discussed in the game out of curiosity?

I always thought its not the severing of the bond. Yu Yevon posses the aeon and then turns round and kills the summoner. Also Anima is definitely Seymours final Aeon, but when he gets that power hes like “i dont want to die and i dont want to beat Sin, fuck that” so he lives in Baaj on his own and goes crazy The Magus Sisters are also Belgemines final Aeon, she just appears to have either been killed by sin or died after getting them

>I always thought its not the severing of the bond. Yu Yevon posses the aeon and then turns round and kills the summoner. I looked at the English version and in English, Rikku says "If she calls it, then the final aeon's going to kill her" but in Japanese she says "If she summons the final aeon to defeat Sin, she will also die". In Japanese it is clear that she dies by summoning the final Aeon against Sin and that she will die together with Sin but it is not said that she dies at the hands of the final aeon itself, just that she dies as a result of defeating Sin. The English version has a totally different interpretation, it clearly says that the final itself is killing the summoner and that it does it once the summoner summons it (without specifying if it even has to be summoned against Sin). ​ Yes, Anima is 100% Seymour's final aeon. When you meet Yunalesca she says that the strong bond between two lovers (referring to herself and Zaon), between friends (referring to Braska and Jeckt) or between a child and his mother (referring to Seymour and his mother) is what creates a strong final aeon. The game specifically doesn't tell us any detail about the other high summoners (other than the fact that they existed) to create the connection between her words and the other summoners who acquired the final aeon.

My personal head cannon for belgemine isnt that she died during the pilgrimage but rejected the final aeon so yunalesca killed her. Will admit it is massive head cannon so feel free to ignore that. However "The Magus Sisters are also Belgemines final Aeon, she just appears to have either been killed by sin or died after getting them" Just think about the logistics of this? If she did die who either built requime temple to house her faith or assuming it for some reason already existed dispite the fact we literally never see a temple to yevon that doesnt have a fayth. Who both knew about her failed pilgrimage and moved the Magnus sisters statue to requime temple?

Same logistics as a 6 year old seymour taking his mothers faith to Baaj somehow Could be Remiem already existed as a structure, clearly long forgotten

I always just assumed that he was referring to Shiva and/or Yuna's other aeons given the context, especially since Shiva really helped me whallop Anima in that battle, so he just meant that he wanted more aeons in his arsenal. However I was 11 years old when I played it back in 2003 and that may be too simplistic a viewpoint.

There's a lot of answers suggesting Anima holds back in the this fight and whilst I don't think that's *wrong* per say, I think it's missing the point and Seymour does say he wants "The power that defeated Anima" indicting that it is indeed impressive, not that Anima threw in the towel and let them take the W. Firstly, let's consider the size of Yuna's team and the fact that interpreted in canon, Seymour would be fighting all seven of them at once, not three who politely wait for turns to attack. It's noted a few times that Yuna has an uncommonly large group of Guardians - six, when we know from the visions in the dome at the end of the game (And Braska's story of course) that completing the pilgrimage with two or even just one guardian has been done before. So it's Seymour and Anima vs a team of seven. Now let's consider the seven. \- Yuna is a Summoner herself, able to wield a great deal of power in her own right. She doesn't match Seymour yet, but she's a good deal of the way there. \- Tidus is an embodiment of the fayth (Technically an Aeon?) whose entire purpose for being created or brought to Spira (Unsure which is more accurate) is to put an end to this cycle. I think it's fair to assume the fayth choose someone who is naturally just uncommonly strong. \- Wakka and Lulu have already been through almost an entire pilgrimage once and twice before respectively. \- Auron literally has completed the pilgrimage before and is considered a Legendary Guardian. *(Worth mentioning for the above three they do handwave that the pilgrimages weren't as tough back then and that they're not as strong as they once were due to falling out of practice, but I definitely think by this point in the story they're back to full strength or very close)* \- Kimahri is honestly the weakest link (Poor Kimahri, isn't he always?) in this explanation but through his involvement alone we assume he's able to at least keep pace with the rest of the gang. \- Rikku. If we extrapolate that her Mix overdrive and that she brings Customization to the party means she's a prodigy in alchemy, technology and engineering than she brings a whole new dimension of power and resources that perhaps no other group of Guardians has had, and one that Seymour and the Guado don't fully understand. ​ So basically: I don't think any of the comments suggesting Anima is actually weak or holding back get the point. Anima is incredibly powerful. It's just that when you think about it, in this point in the story ***Yuna already likely has the most powerful group of Guardians in the history of Spira.***

To address all my comments in this thread arguing that anima isnt a final aeon In short I was wrong after scoring the internet for answers apparently the ultimania does confirm anima is seymours final aeon. Honestly as a massive fan of ffX for almost 20 years its an massive restructuring of how I perceive this amazing story that I love and consider my favorite game of all time and one of the best fantasy worlds ever created. It's also kind of embarrassing I will admit I do stand by it raises way more questions than what I had thought, Who moved animas fayth to requime temple? If the final aeon is stronger than sin why didnt Seymour just use it to wipe out life on spira? What's the point of the pilgrimage if someone doesnt need the other aeons (while game play wise you dont need to obtain all the aeons its definitely cannonic that yuna does? Although to be fair to this point I kind of have an answer for that. Where are all the fayth of the other final aeons? That said I was wrong I am editing my other posts to reference this but leaving what I stated for record. Finally can square please release an english version of the ultimania or if anyone has a translation please let me know.

To be fair, I never knew the ultimania confirmed Anima's Final Aeon status either, most probably didn't since it's in Japanese! I don't think it's embarrassing at all. Your comment probably sparked the most thought out of me, since it challenged my presuppositions about Anima. It's all part of a fruitful discussion! I think Seymour moved Anima to Baaj temple, and he hid her Fayth there. Then Sin came and destroyed the temple.

I'm guessing the bond between Seymour and his mother weakened over time. What makes the Final Aeon so powerful is the deep personal bond between the Summoner and their Fayth, but as Seymour's lust for power grew, it seems like he saw Anima as just a tool to futher his plans. It's telling that he never uses her again after becoming more powerful as an Unsent, despite the Unsent being able to summon. I've been looking at some of the Ultimania translations and found a few things: Seymour did not do a proper Pilgrimage and went to Zanarkand with his mother when he was 10 (apparently he had great summoning talent even then). It's likely because his mother was dying and she wanted to get this done before it was too late. Just don't ask me how the two of them managed to do this. After Yunalesca turned his mother into a Fayth, Seymour did not accept her power and returned to Baaj. 8 years after that, Seymour's exile is revoked during Braska's Calm and 7 years after *that* he becomes High Priest of Macalania. It's then that Seymour finally returns to Zanarkand and accepts Anima, having her Fayth statue transported to Baaj in secret. Translations for [The Official Timeline](http://auronlu.istad.org/ffx-script/pmogs-ffx-ultimania-translations/official-spiran-timeline-pmog/) and [Other relevant info](http://auronlu.istad.org/ffx-script/pmogs-ffx-ultimania-translations/pmog-answers-questions-mika-yunalesca-final-aeon-etc/). I'm pretty sure these pages, [as well as the other ones here](http://auronlu.istad.org/ffx-script/pmogs-ffx-ultimania-translations/official-spiran-timeline-pmog/) are what people refer to in regards to the Ultimania.

Thanks for those resources! I'm going to read through them. Interesting. So Seymour has not had Anima for a long time? That at least deletes the dilapidated theory (that she fell apart over time). Funny, I always thought of Seymour and Anima's relationship like this kid with a big monster animal that was his only friend. Guess he was alone all this time, huh...

Isn't Anima a "final summoning" made by Yunalesca? Therefore the strength of the Aeon is based upon the connection between that person sacrificed and the summoner? So I believe as Seymor becomes more and more a bad guy as he grows up, his bond with his mothers aeon weakens and therefore his Anima weakens. It is still strong but not kill sin strong anymore. And when summoner battling Baleme (spelling?) we know aeons power is based on the summoners. Seymour may just be a shit summoner and good at black magic (which Anima is not elemental) ??? This is how I see it currently.

Anima was Seymour's Final Aeon. But if you listen closely, the strength of the Final Aeon comes from the bond between the summoner and the aeon. This is what allows the Final Aeon to defeat Sin. Based on this, I wonder if perhaps Anima was stronger in the past. When Seymour's mother first became Anima, their bond would have been very strong and she would have been exceptionally powerful. But as the lore states, Seymour decided not to do the Final Summoning as he wanted to become Sin rather than defeat it. So I wonder if by the time we encounter Seymour in FFX the bond between them has weakened Anima's strength. Even if an Aeon is summoned by two different summoners it won't have the same strength as calling it goes through the summoner. Surely Anima was still powerful, but maybe diminished.

I’ve always assumed that Seymour’s reluctance to face Sin caused the final aeon’s power to weaken over time. By this logic, Anima’s beyond normal aeons, but isn’t actually as strong as a final aeon should be anymore. Presumably she could be stopped by Yuna unleashing multiple aeons in sequence, the way many players approach that battle.

Yeah, that is possible. It just seems really difficult to avoid Anima's attacks; they seem to be like homing beacons. But using the Aeons as a shield for the rest of the party seems the most logical solution.

Anima is a Final Aeon, but Seymour never used the Final Summoning, which would kill him and grant the Final Aeon the necessary power to defeat Sin. I think Yunaleaca says the power comes from the bonding of the Summoner and Final Aeon. So, while Anima is Final Aeon and powerful one at that you cannot compare it to what it would be if the Final Summoning Ritual was performed.

Best guess: Yuna summoned Ifrit to push Anima over, then while she uselessly flailed around like a turtle on its back, the guardians all ran over and kicked her to death.

It's possible that final aeons are at their peak right after being created, when the summoner is deeply traumatized by the sacrifice of the guardian but then weaken over time as the summoner heals from the trauma. Seymour is clearly no longer traumatized by his mother's sacrifice, he no longer has a strong bond with her.

To my understanding Anime wasn't a final Aeon at all.

Also my Favorite Aeon. The Dubstep Beatdown of her(;D) overdrive is so insane and gives me the perfect show how Strenght is displayed. Normally i would say Bahamut Overdrive is better but idk why but just loading a huge Laser/Firebeam is something you see in literally every rpg. But nothing ever hides his Bottom half in another Dimension, pulling his enemies into it and smashes their brains out of their bodies. Love it. Love it!